Stories People: Law Enforcement and Health Support

stories people: The CCLA said vulnerable groups impacted by the pandemic need public health support and not punitive law enforcement, and that these fines are paving the way for further racial profiling and discriminatory policing of groups including people of colour, those with precarious housing, recent immigrants, youth, members of the LGBTQ community, as well as certain religious minorities, according to CTV. From the stories people sent us, primarily from Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, the organizations we talked to, we know these are the communities that are both disproportionately impacted by this pandemic, and they're also the communities that are disproportionately impacted by fines and policing, Abby Deshman, the director of the Criminal Justice Program with the CCLA told CTV News Channel, adding that the vast majority of people are trying their best to comply with rules. The Policing the Pandemic Mapping Project, launched in April, tracks what it describes as the massive and extraordinary expansions to police power enacted in response to the pandemic. In one instance, a Black man relayed his unsettling encounter with law enforcement to the CCLA. He said he was walking in a Toronto park with his partner when they were stopped and questioned by a bylaw officer on whether they lived in the same household. Eventually, two Toronto Police Service cruisers also pulled up. He said the by-law officer and his team followed him for 25 minutes through the park, even after he and his partner decided to part ways and meet at home. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.